Chapter 14
Days settled into a routine. Guy found that he could contribute by hunting bigger game than rabbits for food. He had never spent much time hunting, and now he found he enjoyed it and he was fairly decent at it. Twice now he had brought in large deer. The small camp of outlaws were eager and excited for good meat and Guy liked how it felt to be appreciated. He also saw pride in Brooklynne's eyes and that meant everything in the world to him."Brooklynne relished married life and thoroughly loved making their little cave into a home. She daily made her way to the river for water, or to the camp. Djaq was even teaching her to recognize plants that had medicinal value. She had no complaints about their arrangements.
Well maybe except the fact that she only had the one dress she came in. She thought about the trunk of her clothes still sitting in her room at the castle. What she wouldn't do to get those back. emWell what wouldn't I do? /emImmediately a plan was spinning in her mind like a spider spins its web. Guy was out hunting and probably would be for a while. No one at the camp would miss her. She didn't waste any time, she'd work out the details on the ride to the castle.
She saddled up Guy's horse and left without being detected. Just inside the tree line she left the Maximus tethered to a tree and walked in. Her dress that she had being wearing for days was tattered and faded from scrubbing it on river rocks. She took a rag and began to tuck and tie away her hair. She didn't need much help looking dirty though she smeared some extra dirt on her face just in case. There, she was sure that she looked every bit the part of a servant.
She had no trouble entering the castle gates and no one even looked twice at her as she made her way to a side door. When asked what her business was in the castle, she made a big deal about being called in to give a couple of the rooms extra cleaning. The guard of course had no intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the castle staff, let her through without question.
She quickly made her way to her own chambers thankfully without anyone seeing her. Since both she and Marion were no longer at the castle, there was really no traffic in that wing of the castle at all. Her room looked to be untouched. She quickly took a blanket and began rolling up dresses, undergarments and brushes and placed them on the blanket. She went quietly to the wall beside her bed and wiggled loose the stone the hid her jewels and what little money she had saved for herself.
Finally she gathered the nightwatchmens garments and mask along with Marion's daggers that doubled as a hair pins. She hid the important things at the bottom of her sack and made it look as though she was taking out laundry to be washed and then she left with one look behind at a life she would never return to… thankfully.
Because the rest of her plan went off without a hitch Brooklynne decided to take one more large risk. Her horse Darius was stabled at the castle. The head groom Digory, had been there since she was a child on her summer visits. He was getting very old and somewhat blind, though he still loved his horses. She was hoping that since she had been coming in for so many years to have her horse saddled, that if she came in today like it was any other day, he wouldn't even remember the fact that she was an escaped outlaw now. It was worth a shot. She poked her head into the stables to see who was around. She didn't see anyone. She found Darius at the end of the row of stalls. He was a big bay with black and tan colorings. She loved him. He perked up his ears when he heard her soft whispered greeting.
"Why Lady Brooklynne. Its been a while since you've taken old Darius here out for a gallop." She turned around to find Digory had been bent over cleaning the hooves of the horse next to Darius. "Digory! How are you? Well I hope? You are right, it has been way too long since Darius and I have had a good run. I thought I'd take him out today." "Well lets get him saddled up then." As she prepared to mount him she felt Digory's hand on her shoulder. "You take care of yourself now child. Take care of yourself." He gave her a knowing look and she squeezed his hand and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I will, thank you Digory." And with that she was gone. No one stopped or questioned her and her plan was a success. She gathered Guy's horse Maximus at the edge of the trees and made her way back to camp.
Brooklynne couldn't help but be pleased with herself. She made her way back to the cave to find Guy sitting by the entrance to the cave. She smiled when she saw him. He had retired his black leather skin for good and wore simple white linen shirt and brown leather britches. She liked this look on him. Now he was sitting and skinning his most recent kill. She had refused to let him do the smelly, messy business in the cave. He looked up at her as she came up.
"What have you been up to, lovely wife of mine?" She tried to think of an approach to his question that wouldn't result in him being upset with her… but she just couldn't think of one. "Nothing much really. I just ran back to my room to get some of my clothes, I was getting tired of only having one dress. Oh and I decided to give Darius a ride. Its been a while and I thought he would enjoy being out here with us," she casually answered, throwing him a smile before going inside the cave.
His jaw dropped. He wasn't sure he heard her correctly. "You did what?" He demanded following her inside. "I told you I ran back to my room to get a few things I was unable to get the first time we left." "Do you think I am stupid? That I don't fully know every risk that you took in doing that? What were you thinking?" Oh yes he was upset. He was very upset. "Look Guy, I love you, you know that. But I am fully capable of taking care of myself! I am not some helpless damsel that needs rescuing. If you will recall, I took care of myself just fine living in that castle for so long. I did what I pleased. I do not need to be babysat!" She firmly told him.
She turned and pulled out one of her favorite gowns and began to put it on. He caught her by both shoulders, "Brooklynne, you were not an outlaw while living in the castle! Now you are being hunted! Now if you are caught you will hang immediately. It was a careless foolish thing to do." He turned away from her. He wasn't ready for the emotions that washed over him when he thought of loosing her.
She quickly finished putting on the gown and walked around to face him. "I'm sorry Guy. But I'm not going to sit around and do nothing all day. I plan to do my share of fighting with you and Robin. I will not be coddled." "I will not allow it!" He shouted at her. She drew herself up as tall as she could. "Look Guy of Gisborne, I fight well. In fact I fight better than many men I know. Why half the Sheriffs guards would be humiliated if they knew that the Night Watchman was a woman." She didn't realize that her secret was out until she heard Guy suck in his breathe. Then she realized what she had said. She had been upset and defensive and it had slipped out. She clamped her eyes shut as she exhaled a deep breath, as if preparing for the outbreak she knew was coming.
"I don't believe it. You wouldn't do this to me." He grabbed her sack of things and began digging through it. He froze when he found it… the Night Watchman's mask. In a fit of rage he tipped over the table he had been working to build over the past few nights. The wood pieces fell apart and rolled away. Brooklynne tried to explain her reasons. That she was doing this before she fell in love with him. To honor her cousin. But he would not stop to listen. The hurt and rage was overwhelming every other thought or feeling. She was just like Marion. Only using him for her own purposes. All his insecurities came back stronger than before. He couldn't focus on anything. "Why can't you just let me take care of you Marion…" he half spoke half whispered to the fire as he slumped down in front of it.
Brooklynne jerked like he had slapped her. He had called her Marion. Her gasp made him realized his error. "You called me Marion." "I meant to say Brooklynne." "No you said Marion. You were thinking of Marion." "Well I've sure had this conversation before! With your cousin! Couldn't you have learned from her?" " You have emnever/em stopped loving her!" She hurled at him before stomping out of the cave. "There is no way I am letting you turn this back on me! If you hadn't lied to me this never would have happened!" He yelled at the empty entrance. He could hear her gallop off.